


Pancakes & Photographs

by justdk



Series: Pynch Week 2018 [7]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Family Bonding, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 13:27:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15641679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justdk/pseuds/justdk
Summary: Ronan and Adam come to visit Declan and it goes better than they expected





	Pancakes & Photographs

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Pynch Week 2018, Day 8: Free. About a year ago I received a tumblr ask requesting that I write a Pynch prompt: “Hey! I was gonna eat that!” and then I didn’t… sadly the person who requested the prompt must have changed their url cause I can’t find them. This is pure fluff!

Declan wakes up early by habit, the morning light filtering in through the curtains. He lies still for several minutes listening to the quiet and absently patting the empty side of the bed. He pulls the other pillow over, pressing it to his face and inhaling the sweet scent of honeysuckle. A few dark hairs still cling to it reminding him of the guy he’s missing. _It’s only for a week_ he thinks as he sits up and retrieves his phones from the nightstand. A brief look reveals that he doesn’t have any urgent messages to respond to. _Good_.

After visiting the restroom Declan pulls on a pair of gray sweatpants and pads out to the kitchen. He starts a pot of coffee and waters the plants in the living room. The succulents are doing very well; Adam will be pleased with him, he hopes. Spying out the window he sees a couple neighbors jog by and Mrs. Torres walking her dog to the mailbox. The smell of coffee drifts into the room distracting Declan from his neighborhood surveillance. He tells himself he wasn’t looking for out of place cars parked on the street.

The only out of place car is the BMW parked next to his Volvo. Declan stares at it from the kitchen window as he blows on the steaming coffee in his mug. He can’t quite believe that Ronan and Adam are currently sleeping in the guest bedroom. Well, that’s a partial lie; they were loud enough last night that he had to resort to wearing earbuds and listening to pink noise until he dropped off. They probably thought they were being sneaky, too. Declan takes a sip of coffee and stretches up on his toes. He’s sort of flattered that they feel comfortable enough in his house to… he stops thinking about it; Ronan’s sex life is not his business.

With nothing to do but wait until his brother and Adam wake up Declan takes his coffee into the living room and stretches out on the couch. He scrolls through his phone until he finds the chill playlist Jiang made for him and then he taps on the ebook app and picks up were he left off in the _Dresden Files_. He gets lost in the book, absently drinking his coffee until he goes to take a sip and the mug is empty. An hour’s gone by and the boys still aren’t up and Declan’s hungry. He considers putting on a shirt and going to the nearby coffee shop for doughnuts but that seems like an empty gesture.

In the kitchen Declan checks the fridge and pantry for ingredients and then dons the apron Ronan gave him as a gag gift: it’s kelly green with white text that reads _Kiss Me, I’m an Asshole_. He wishes Jiang were here to help or just to chat; the house feels way too empty without him. Declan switches the playlist to upbeat and turns up the volume as he sets out the ingredients for pancakes and bacon. He’s made this breakfast many times, minus the bacon, and doesn’t have to consult a recipe as he measures out everything, mixing it up while the skillet heats on the stove.

He’s in the midst of singing out the chorus for “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song” and tossing a pancake when Ronan enters the kitchen, Adam trailing behind him. Adam’s hair is wet and dripping onto his oversized college sweatshirt. Declan notices that he’s wearing a pair of Ronan brand sleep shorts with a pattern of black ravens flying across the pale blue flannel. Ronan looks sleepy but otherwise happy. He, like Declan, is shirtless and Declan’s eyebrows shoot up when he spots the new tattoo sitting low on Ronan’s hip. Latin. How very Aglionby.

“You copying Mr. Gray’s music?” Ronan asks as he leans against the kitchen island. He snags a piece of bacon and crunches on it.

“Hmm?” Declan plates the pancakes and starts on the next batch.

“The Flaming Lips,” Adam supplies, snatching the bacon from Ronan. “Mr. Gray likes them about as much as The Kinks.”

“Hey!” Ronan says, playfully grabbing Adam’s wrist. “I was gonna eat that!”

Adam shoves the rest of the bacon in his mouth and beams. “It’s called sharing, Ronan.”

“Ronan never picked up that lesson,” Declan comments. He can feel Ronan glowering at his back. He smirks and retrieves the butter and orange juice from the fridge. “He always wanted my Legos and then he wouldn’t give them back.”

“Dude you _never_ played with those fucking Legos,” Ronan gripes. He picks up another piece of bacon, breaks it in two, and hands a piece to Adam. “I rescued them.”

“Uh-huh, sure.” Declan sets the butter and syrup on the bar and pours glasses of orange juice. Adam helps carry them over and Ronan hoards the bacon. “Just like you rescued my Hot Wheels?”

Ronan flips him off, too busy chewing to reply.

They take their seats at the bar, Adam sitting between Declan and Ronan presumably to keep them from squabbling. Declan doesn’t mind. He and Adam never got the chance to know one another while they were at Aglionby so he welcomes any opportunity he has to get to know his brother’s boyfriend. He’s glad to see how relaxed Adam is in his home and how he makes Ronan calmer, kinder. They all grab pancakes from the pile and pass around butter and syrup. If Declan had thought about it sooner he would have bought strawberries and whipped cream but this will have to do.

Adam takes a bite of his pancakes and smiles politely at Declan. “Thanks for cooking for us. This is really good.”

Now it’s Declan’s turn to beam. Yes, he is trying to butter up Adam as a way to show Ronan that he can be a good older brother, but he’s also genuinely pleased that Adam likes his cooking.

“I really enjoy cooking,” Declan says. “Now that I’m on my own I like trying new recipes, seeing what works. I usually cook vegetarian because of Jiang.”

Ronan bypasses him mentioning Jiang and asks, “If that’s the case, what’s for lunch?”

“You’ll be here for lunch?” Declan’s surprised. He thought for sure that Ronan would leave as soon as possible or at least go out and do something with Adam while they’re in the city.

“We came to see you, didn’t we?” Ronan asks. His tone is belligerent but underneath that Declan senses his uncertainty.

“Oh. Okay.” Declan drinks some coffee to stall until he can say something more encouraging or brotherly or whatever Ronan is looking for. “Well there’s not a ton to do here but I’ve got a couple hammocks we can set up out back. There’s the community swimming pool, as well. I have books? Some cards?”

“No Legos?” Adam asks. He’s smiling so Declan knows he’s only teasing.

“Well, no. But I have baby pictures! I know you’ve probably seen all the ones at the Barns…”

“I haven’t, actually,” Adam corrects. He shoots a look at Ronan. “Someone says he can’t find them.”

“Ronan!” Declan makes an aggrieved sound. “You’re depriving your boyfriend of your most adorable moments?”

Ronan’s mouth is full of pancakes so he can only glare at the two of them.

That’s how they end up sprawled on the living room floor, heavy photo albums spread out on the carpet, Adam slowly turning the pages and exclaiming over the pictures.

“What happened here?” Adam asks. “Ronan, you’re covered in mud!”

“God, I remember that,” Declan laughs. “Ronan saw some show about monster trucks mud bogging and he just had to do it. So he took the knock-off Barbie Jeep dad had dreamed—”

“It was NOT Barbie!” Ronan interrupts. “It was camo and it was awesome!”

Adam rolls his eyes. “And you think _I’m_ a hick. Declan, continue.”

“Right. So Ronan drives his Jeep down to this muddy little duck pond we had and he proceeds to go wild, racing all in it, scaring all the ducks and geese half to death. Which was fine until he got the Jeep stuck out in the middle of it and cried because it wouldn’t restart. I had to wade out in that muck to fetch him. Mom was laughing so hard she barely kept it together enough to take this picture.”

Declan touches the edge of the yellowing photo, remembering Aurora’s pure laugh, her honey-colored hair tossed by the wind. She always seemed too radiant to be real. Declan remembers how he had been shocked when meeting other adults, how dull they seemed in comparison to his parents, how tame their children were next to Ronan and Matthew. He’s known since a young age that his family was special, that they needed to be protected. He may have lost his parents but he’ll do anything to keep his brothers safe.

“I just remember dad said that if I’d buggered my Jeep he wasn’t giving me a new one,” Ronan says. He’s reclined next to Adam, propped up on one elbow, his eyes fixed on the picture.

Adam turns to Ronan and smiles fondly. “I bet y’all just towed it away and didn’t bother trying to fix it.”

Ronan shrugs. “How do you fix a dream thing?”

“That’s a problem worth considering,” Adam muses. “I’m sure we could find a way.”

And that right there is why Declan didn’t balk when Ronan eventually told him about Adam. Declan’s always known that Ronan wouldn’t give his heart lightly, that he would wait until he found someone who could accept all of him, and Adam Parrish is that someone. Here he is on Declan’s living room floor calmly discussing dreams and magic, smiling at his brother like Ronan hung the moon. Ronan looks back at him, eyes full, mirroring his admiration. They’re ridiculously cute.

Declan gets up and excuses himself to get coffee. He leans against the kitchen counter, smiling. He hopes that Niall and Aurora can see this and that they know. Their sons are going to be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> some notes: 1) I ship Declan and Jiang and currently have a fic about them going (No One’s Favorite); I usually have them as a couple in whatever I write. 2) There are some small references to other fic I’ve written: the hip tattoo is from one of the Pynch Week prompts titled Claimed and the reference to Adam and Ronan being loud is kind of a joke because I wrote a smutty fic titled Quietly where they stay over at Declan’s and try to be quiet… apparently Declan heard something ;) 
> 
> some personal notes: I love The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher! Please read them they’re so fun but also angsty af later in the series. I was obsessed with The Flaming Lips in college. I once went mud bogging on my bike when I was a kid and there is photo evidence. My brother got all the best Legos and never shared. My other brother had ALL the Hot Wheels. I really wanted a Barbie Jeep and our neighbor had one and she let me drive it… I was super small. I think I drove it into the ditch
> 
> You can find me on tumblr @dkafterdark


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